Levee sales tax prompts debate

It will be up to north Lafourche voters to decide how much flood-protection work is necessary, what pace is appropriate and what cost is justified.

Xerxes Wilson Staff Writer

It will be up to north Lafourche voters to decide how much flood-protection work is necessary, what pace is appropriate and what cost is justified. The North Lafourche Levee District is asking voters to decide the fate of a new 1-cent sales tax that would be used to pay for flood protection north of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. The 1-cent tax on each dollar spent north of the waterway is among the items on the Dec. 8 ballot. Thibodaux Councilman Chip Badeaux is campaigning against the tax, arguing the district has enough money to borrow against and finance improvements without increasing taxpayers' burden. “To be good stewards of the taxpayers' money, they need to take a different route,” Badeaux said. Dwayne Bourgeois, the Levee District's executive director, calls the proposition an opportunity for voters decide how the district will move forward.“The (district's) commissioners felt they owed it to the citizens in the district to make the call and see if they feel it in their best interest to be more proactive and address our flood risk that is going to be coming in the next few years in a more aggressive manner,” Bourgeois said last month.The Levee District protects the area from Lockport and Larose in south Lafourche to Kraemer and Chackbay in the parish's northern reaches. The district includes more than 200 miles of levees and 47 pump stations, Bourgeois said.Badeaux's argument centers around the Levee District's spending and perceived accumulation of a cash balance or savings. The district's budget shows it took in more than $3.5 million last year. About $3 million is derived from a 12-mill property tax; investments and grants make up the rest.The district had about $1 million in operating costs last year. This includes $300,000 categorized as levee maintenance. It also had a capitol outlay of nearly $2 million. Capitol outlay is money spent on physical projects such as new levees or tangible levee improvements. Bourgeois laid out a long list of ongoing levee improvements paid for with capitol outlay money.The new tax will annually generate $8.8 million for the district. The intent is to finance some immediate protection work, while borrowing against part of the money to complete more financially ambitious projects, Bourgeois said.Badeaux claims the district has built up “savings” greater than $7 million, with $500,000 being added last year. Badeaux argues the money used for capitol projects and the money he sees as accumulating in reserves could be borrowed against without having to increase taxes. “They have a fund balance. They bring in more than $3 million a year,” Badeaux said. "Surely they don't need to ask the taxpayers for more when they could borrow against what they are bringing in."Bourgeois said it is unfair to assume the district has money languishing because a glance at the budget doesn't give an understanding of what those perceived "savings" are devoted to. Much of the money Badeaux refers to as "saved" is committed to projects which can take months to complete. Just having money saved without purpose is not the district's practice, Bourgeois said noting the district's unreserved funds is actually at $3.5 million. The remaining money, Badeaux refers to as "saved" is dedicated to three separate projects, Bourgeois said. Bourgeois also said the district's board discussed every possible option for raising money, including selling bonds. He noted that $248 million in levee improvements have been identified using the district's NOPET procedure, which takes into account cost, need and benefits with the intent of excluding political interests. The board says a sales-tax option would be a quicker, more efficient path to improving the levee system, he said. “When you have a $248 million problem ... you can even cut that in half to a $124 million problem: a bond issue doesn't get us close to that,” Bourgeois said. He said a hypothetical $20 million bond sale comes with repayment and interest, tying up money that would otherwise be available for projects. “It's really just a matter of how fast we can go,” Bourgeois said. “The cost of bonding is expensive, so we are trying to avoid it.” Badeaux was also critical of the operational expenses of the office claiming it shouldn't take $1 million annually to run the office. “Man, it would be nice to get nearly $200,000 to manage an office of two people,” Badeaux said, referring to Bourgeois' $138,000 salary, a figure that doesn't include pension and insurance benefits. “I don't think that is good stewards of taxpayer dollars.” Bourgeois said it isn't fair to say it takes $1 million to run the office because much of that money is used on levee maintenance which includes money spent directly on projects completed "in-house" with the district's equipment. It also includes money to maintain, operate and insure the machinery the district uses in its levee work. The district director's salary is set by the board and is in line with the compensation of other district directors. He emphasized money raised from a sales tax would be used strictly for projects and not for expansion of the office or salaries.Bourgeois said he will not advocate for or against the tax, adding it is up to voters to decide the quickness and thoroughness needed for levee protection. Badeaux said the new tax would hit business owners hardest as they typically make big purchases for their operations more regularly than average residents. “It's easy for someone sitting on a board to raise taxes, but now is not the time. People can't afford it,” Badeaux said. Councilman Mike Delatte, who represents areas of the parish that experienced surging waters during Hurricane Isaac, said now is the best time to enact a sales tax for coastal protection. Delatte noted water levels were higher than ever before following Isaac. “It is no longer a matter of if north Lafourche floods, it is a matter of when,” Delatte said.Rising waters following Isaac forced the deployment of sandbags and temporary dams atop levees in north Lafourche to keep communities such as Kraemer from being inundated. Delatte fears that isn't a one-time event with flood-protection measures elsewhere pushing more water in the directon of North Lafourche's residents. “A sales tax is the fairest way to do it. Everyone pays. It is fairer across the board, and you also collect money from outside the parish,” Delatte said.

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